The Flora of Murdoch University
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THE FLORA OF MURDOCH UNNERSITY A Guide to the Native Plants on Campus Cover photograph: Banksia mehziesii (firewood banksia) .THE FLORA OF MURDOCH UNIVERSITY , A Guide to the Native Plants on Campus BERNARD DELL IAN J. BENNETI . Stylidium schoenoides First published in 1986 by Murdoch University in celebration of its Tenth Anniversary Typesetting in Korinna by CityTyp esetters, Subiaco Printed by Lamb Printers Pty. Ltd., West Perth and bound by Printers Trade Services, Belmont Graphics and design layout by Murray Austen·Smith and , Shirley Booth, Murdoch University Campus map drawing by Gaye Roberts, Fremantle This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process withoutwritten permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher. © Murdoch University Murdoch, Western Australia, 6150 ISBN 0 86905 087 7 Banksia attenuata FOREWORD Western Australia's wildflowers are recognized throughout the world for their colour, form and uniqueness. Many can be observed in the metropolitan area close to the city of Perth. Despite this, there has been very little scholarly documentation of them. This book provides an account of the flora of Murdoch University. Though the campus was disturbed first by farming and later by arboriculture, small but significant areas of the original bush remain. This scholarly account provides a valuable record of those native species that enrich the Murdoch campus afterthe first ten years of its operation. It should prove useful as a data base for future conservation and planning strategies, as well as providing a . valuable reference source for staff and students. It should also have strong · appeal to local residents who are curious about the plants which characterize the white and yellow sands of their surrounds and as a guide for visitors to the campus. ·The work, though written for the amateur naturalist, is scientifically sotind and attempts to simplifythe identification of plants using ink drawings and colour photographs in combination with keys. The Murdoch University community is grateful to those of its members whose enthusiasm and skill have made possible this lasting contribution to the celebration of our tenth anniversary. I congratulate them. RONALD WILSON KBE, CMG, LLM Penn., LLB HonLLD W.Aust Chancellor, Murdoch University March 1986 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Planning for a booklet on the indigenous flora of Murdoch University began early in 1984. Support for this project was then taken up by the University's Tenth Anniversary Committee and we are grateful for its financial assistance. We thank the Vice-Chancellor, Professor P.J. Boyce, for his encouragement and assistance with the publication. Many people have contributed to the project but especially Anne-Marie Schmidt, Jane Webb, Anitra Wendon and John Robinson. We thank Dr John Green for use of facilities at the Western Australian Herbarium, Dr Neville Marchant and Judy Wheeler for advice and access to unpublished material. Dr Peter Bridgewater freely made available his computer distribution maps of many campus species produced from data collected by Judy Wheeler. The following Plant Recognition course students contributed to the project: Colin Beasley, Liz Franks and John Schalinger. We are also grateful to Dr Eric Hopkins for providing information on the Somerville pine plantation, Peter Voight for help with Appendix 3, Rob Manning for advice on orchids, Dr Jen McComb for reading the manuscript, Dee Cahill and Carol Hooper for word-processing, Shirley Booth and Murray Austen Smith for design and layout. The map was prepared by Gaye Roberts. Much of the value of a booklet dealing with identification of the flora lies in its illustrations. Credit for these is as follows: Line Drawings Michael Bamford Figs. 13, 63 , 69, 76, Frontispiece (Banksia attenuata) Lorna Charlton Fig. 74 Helga Mellor Figs. 19-24 Joanne Robinson Figs. 7,16, 26,27,32,33,40,51, 57, 58,60,66, 70, 72; pages 21, 95, 114, 122, Title Page (Stylidium schoenoides) Anitra Wenden Figs. 6, 8-12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 31,34- 39,41-50, 52-57, 61, 64, 65, 68, 71,73; page 89 Colour photographs Dr S.D. Hopper Cover (Banksia menziesii) Ruth McGrath Plates 9, 11, 15, 18 , 20, 22, 23,25 Other figures and plates by the authors. viii CONTENTS page Foreword by Sir Ronald Wi lson vii Acknowledgements VIII Introduction to the Vegetation 1 How to use this book 7 Glossary 10 Key to Fami lies of Flowering Plants 14 Non-flowering vascular plants 19 Dicotyledons 21 Lauraceae 23 Ranunculaceae 24 . Casuarinaceae 25 Aizoaceae 26 Amaranthaceae 27 Dilleniaceae 28 Droseraceae 30 Violaceae 33 Epacridaceae 34 Pittosporaceae 37 Mimosaceae 38 Fabaceae . 41 Proteaceae 54 Thymelaeaceae 59 Myrt aceae 60 Santalaceae 67 Loranthaceae 68 Euphorbiaceae 69 Tremandraceae 70 Polygalaceae 71 Rutaceae 72 Gerianiaceae 73 Apiaceae 74 Lamiaceae 76 Scrophulariaceae 77 Orobanchaceae 78 Lobeliaceae 79 Stylidiaceae 80 Goodeniaceae 82 Rubiaceae 84 Asteraceae 85 Monocotyledons 89 Juncaginaceae 91 Commelinaceae 94 ix Rushes, Reeds and Sedges 95 Restionaceae 95, 98 Juncaceae 95, 100 Cyperaceae 95, 101 Poaceae 104 Haemodoraceae 105 Liliaceae 108 lridaceae 113 Xanthorrhoeaceae 114 Orchidaceae 115 Appendix 1 Abbreviations to Authors 120 Appendix 2 Common Weeds 12 1 Appendix 3 Australian Plants in Murdoch Un iversity Gardens 123 Index 124 Vegetation Map : 130 X INTRODUCTION TO THE VEGETATION Background Murdoch University lies at the interface of two dune systems on the western third of the Swan Coastal Plain. To the west lie the tall Spearwood Dunes, mainly yellow sands over limestone. The older and highly leached white sands of the Bassendean Dune system lie to the east. Separating the two systems is a chain of freshwater lakes and wetlands, the closest to Murdoch being NorthLak e. Murdoch is partof the once extensive eucalypt/banksia woodland that clothed the well-drained ridges of much of the metropolitan area. Quite subtle changes in elevation, slope, drainage and soil chemistry provide a . range of habitats resulting in a rich and diverse flora. As a result the Murdoch flora contains not only elements of the Kwongan sandplain vegetation (heathlands on infertile soils, e.g. Calectasia cyanea, Daviesia triflora), but ·units or specjes characteristic of the jarrah forest (e.g. Banksia grandis, Eucalyptus marginata), coastal woodlands on calcareous soils (e.g. Eucalyptus gomphocephala, Olearia axillaris) and freshwater wetlands (e.g. Astartea {a scicularis, Melaleuca preissiana). ·Trees form the dominant and most familiar components in the region. Of the 200 indigenous species now on campus it is perhaps surprising th at only fifteen reach the stature of trees (defi ned as plants with a single woody trunk and over 4 metres in height). There are four species of eucalypts, two paperbarks, five banksias, and one. she-oak, Christmas tree, woody pear and ac acia. Clearly, therefore, most diversity is to be found in the shrub and herbaceous communities and much of this book is devoted to th ese groups. The number of species and their present distributions have been strongly affected by agriculture and forestry pursuits. Recent History Partsof the southern half of Murdoch were used to graze cattle, horses and sheep until the mid 1970s. The grazing must, however, have been light in th e existing Banksia Woodland because the under-storey is quite intact and there is little weed growth . Limited cropping was also undertaken. Earlier, Chinese market gardeners established vegetable plots near th e south-east corner of Melaleuca Swamp. Part of the market garden now has Melaleuca regrowth and the raised beds can sti ll be seen in aerial photographs. Just to th e west of the old gardens lies a narrow raised track lined on the eastern side by a single row of Pinus trees. This trac k once passed north, up the main campus ridge and onto where Riseley Street is today. These and other tracks in the area were probably once used to haul jarrah logs and billets to small local saw-pits or further afield on th e limestone track (now Leach Highway) to mills in Fremantle. A few large 1 jarrah stu mps remain on campus, e.g. below Bush Court . In addition to jarrah, tuartwa s also felled for timber. This species is at the eastern edge of its range, and there are a few remaining trees in Bush Court. The northern half of, Murdoch was part of the University of Western Australia Endowment Land (Cockburn Sound Location 549). In March 1926 an agreement was made between th e Universityof Western Au sta�ia and the Conservator of F crests whereby the F crests Departmeht undertook to establish a pine plantation. The area was to be cleared and planted at the rate of 1 00 acres per annum and the lease period was fifty years. The scheme was inaugurated at a time when there was a strong movement to get parliamentary permission to sell Endowment Lands, and was a challenge by members of th e Universityof Wester n Australia Senat� to find a way to use them profitably. The following description of the'. Somervillepla ntation is from The WestAustritlian(31 May 1938)- 'The . I plantation was divided into areas of about 25 acres, each of wh ich was ' surrounded by a firebreak 15 feet wide. Each group of four such areas was surrounded by a firebreak one chain wide and each 300 acre lot was surrounded by a tw o-chain firebreak. The trees were planted about 7 feet apart'. Wildfires in th e Somerville area were small and frequent, for example there were sixty-one in the 1973-74 season. In the early 1960s a lookout · tower was erected west of Kardinya to replace the treetop lookout on the edge of South Street.